By the time 10 p.m. ET rolled around, three of the top five steals on Day 1 of the 2016 MLB draft—players taken lower than expected—were position players. A half-hour later, only one remained.
So while the Seattle Mariners and New York Yankees deserve credit for stealing outfielders Kyle Lewis (No. 11) and Blake Rutherford (No. 18), respectively, other picks were bigger steals—defined by key factors such as talent upside vs. draft position, and signability.
Those thefts include a trio of prospects—two pitchers and the lone position player to crack our top five—who, at one point over the past few months, were in the discussion to be the draft’s top overall selection.
It’s going to take a few years before we know who the real steals of the draft are, as there’s a chance that at least one high school prospect who made the cut won’t sign and could head to college.
But with what we know—or at least what we think we know—about these prospects and how they project at the game’s highest level, here are the biggest Day 1 steals of the 2016 MLB draft.